What are models for raising expectations for students successont
he High School Exit Exam (HSEE) and how do schools go about
providing all students with the support they need to fulfill
these high expectations? The Standards Mastery and Responsive
Teaching (SMART) Project will pursue answers to this critical
question.

Two middle school/high-school clusters (CVHS & CVMS and
MVHS & MVMS) will serve as targets for application of
innovative pedagogical and intervention strategies within
the second largest secondary district in California. Both
schools have a history of work with CAPP. Poised to take advantage
of a new and functional partnerships with community colleges
and four-year universities, both clusters serve large numbers
of marginalized students who are denied access to institutions
of higher education. We are ready to make the most of CAPP's
desire to support reaserch-based documentation of promising
strategies for increasing success on the HSEE.

Two important beliefs drive our proposal. First, most classroom
teachers lack the ability to provide students, parents and
colleagues with the connection between letter grades and indicators
of student mastery of critical content standards. Second,
schools receiving considerable State and Federal funds lack
an articulated and coherent system for ensuring that diverse
students benefit from effective academic interventions. Focused,
informed teacher dialogue is essential for the amelioration
of both conditions. Structured time for teacher review of
relevant and timely data as well as development of the collegiality
that supports risk taking are outcome to be realized through
the use of CAPP fund. The SMART Project will use CAPP resources
to synthesize various positive but disjointed efforts and
provide powerful data on ways in which two different school
clusters in a common district work to achieve common outcomes.